Campanula takes its name from the latin for ‘little bell’ (no sniggering at the back of the class please). It’s pretty obvious why: the striking flowers appear each season in the shape of lilting, lolling bells, often rich in blues and purples as they ding-dong merrily around the temperate wilds of their Mediterranean homelands.
Often in FOTW we talk about literary allusions, and occasionally we talk about food-related uses for our featured bloom. I think the campanula is the first to have a combined culinary-literary fact however. The campanula rapunculus was once widely grown in Europe for its spinach-like leaves and radish-like roots. This particular species of campanula also gave its name to the Brothers Grimm fairytale character, Rapunzel. Not quite sure why. Answers on a postcard?
Whilst it might have once sent veggie-chomping Europeans wild, it’s now thought to symbolise undying love, honesty and obedience. Equating obedience to undying love sounds a little off to us, personally – let’s reclaim the bellflower! From now on it symbolises undying love, unruly independent spirit and a love of radish-like roots.
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![Campanula Pt](https://floom.imgix.net/products/Campanula-pt_170710_101952.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=2e58808d0164733edc336a0b5eff7931 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/Campanula-pt_170710_101952.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=1ae0c7185a1e892f73c31a25981fb2b3 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/Campanula-pt_170710_101952.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=5ece36d632ffb4f86cad14a8aecaedfc 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/Campanula-pt_170710_101952.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=9c8d48afdc3b2c400fe4c5ad263d2bba 400w)
![Campanula Ls](https://floom.imgix.net/products/Campanula-ls_170710_102026.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=9c95656d79902d6a6f3e2be6343e3d1d 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/Campanula-ls_170710_102026.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=9b5347237792722aa46bfc04fefe7999 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/Campanula-ls_170710_102026.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=74e0eb6d5368174421cf291deffb87cc 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/Campanula-ls_170710_102026.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=70ddd146ea76e3314387c9c8f7f0abaf 400w)